This morning, I continued reading "Cleaving" by Julie Powell (of "Julie and Julia" fame), which got me thinking: where is MY nearest butcher? The last time I was at a butcher was with my mom in suburbia when I was really young (ten?) to get meat for our family party. There have to be butchers in Chicago, especially some in my neighborhood, right?
So I turned to yelp.
There's quite a few butchers in Chicago and I am excited to go to a place that is exclusively a butcher (when I know exactly what I want to make before arriving - going to a butcher doesn't strike me as a I'll-decide-when-I-get-there kind of deal.) But today, I was intrigued by an Asian grocery store that I always see at the Argyle Red Line stop: Tai Nam Food Market. The yelp reviews were overwhelmingly positive and mentioned that there is a butcher, so I grabbed my shopping bag and headed there. I always forget just how close Argyle is to where I live - it seems like a whole different world - but is a two or three minute train ride. In the store, I was one of five non-Asians. I wandered up and down every aisle perusing the products. My eyes lit up when I saw their wide variety of rice noodles. I knew to be careful when buying non-American products because of allergen declaration differences (or lack of) in other countries, but I was excited to see so many noodles saying "Ingredients: Rice Flour." There were also a good number of "Ingredients: Wheat Flour" noodles, so I reassured myself that my choices were safe. I bought a few different varieties including dried tapioca slices, rice macaroni in twist and elbow varieties, and yellow rice noodles. The most expensive one was $1.25!!! Talk about a savings - I have only ever seen gf pasta for $2.00 on a super sale, it is normally +$3.00 a box or bag! I bought one of a few different varieties to make sure that I do not get sick from them before stocking up.
I bought some fresh produce and headed over to the butcher section of the store. I grabbed a chicken in a bag and as soon as I lifted it up, I saw the chicken staring back at me. No thanks. I don't like my meat to still have a face I can see. I instead got .75 pounds of pork tenderloin for $1.81 and decided I would have to stop somewhere else for a whole chicken because when I want a whole chicken, I do not really want A Whole Chicken.
Proud of myself for saving so much money by shopping at this grocery store, I detoured to their cookware section. (This is a HUGE store.) They had a really nice selection of plates, soup bowls, rice bowls and soup spoons. So I bought two of a few different things. I splurged. But the prices were right and I love the design. Besides, I am cooking a lot more Asian dishes, so I should have the appropriate dishware, right? This was the part of my shopping trip where a really sweet elderly lady came up to me and asked if I knew how to use chopsticks. I let her know that I did and she proudly told me that her grandchildren ("Who are American!") already knew how to! Seriously, did my whiteness stick out that badly? It was a really pleasant encounter - this lady probably thinks that I know nothing about Asian cooking. I'll put myself as an advanced beginner. ;-)
I headed home and began cooking my three-course dinner: appetizer, soup and main dish. All of the recipes came from "400 Thai and Chinese Delicious Recipes for Healthy Living." This was a Borders bargain section find for $7.99 (the price tag is still on it.) It's a great book with a wide variety of recipes, but my main problem with the book is that healthy living means low fat/calories (which is true for most Asian dishes). So I need to figure out ways to sneak extra calories into some of these dishes because they are really tasty and easy to cook.
I began with the Crunchy Summer Rolls using round rice papers (the ingredient that started this whole dinner.) I shredded some lettuce, julienned some carrots (my knife skills got better with each one), cooked my cubed pork tenderloin and washed some bean sprouts. I 
was planning on also adding mint and coriander leaves, but the flavor was a little too overwhelming for me. Rolling the wrappers was really easy after I figured out the best way to soak the rice papers. Rather than having 2-3 soak at a time, soak them individually. They really only need 30-60 seconds to soak before they are pliable and ready to use. Every time I took one out of the water to roll, I added a dry one to my bowl. Once I made a few, I placed a damp paper towel over my rolls, wrapped the plate in saran wrap and stuck them in the fridge and started the next dish.
was planning on also adding mint and coriander leaves, but the flavor was a little too overwhelming for me. Rolling the wrappers was really easy after I figured out the best way to soak the rice papers. Rather than having 2-3 soak at a time, soak them individually. They really only need 30-60 seconds to soak before they are pliable and ready to use. Every time I took one out of the water to roll, I added a dry one to my bowl. Once I made a few, I placed a damp paper towel over my rolls, wrapped the plate in saran wrap and stuck them in the fridge and started the next dish.Sometimes w
hen I'm cooking nowadays, I choose a recipe and am about to start cooking and then really read the recipe and get stumped. I've never worked with lemon grass (or even recall eating it) before, but I found some on my shopping trip and was about to rinse them off when I realized I had no idea how to make my lemon grass "lightly bruised," let alone which parts were edible. Some quick Internet searching later, I was able to resume cooking. The soup took over three hours to make - the inital simmering takes two hours. I made a more Americanized version of the soup (sans coriander, fish sauce, and chilies) but the lemon grass still gave it a really rich texture. This was a really great tasting soup and I foresee making Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon Grass more in the future. I think I ended up with six generous servings - I love frozen leftovers!
hen I'm cooking nowadays, I choose a recipe and am about to start cooking and then really read the recipe and get stumped. I've never worked with lemon grass (or even recall eating it) before, but I found some on my shopping trip and was about to rinse them off when I realized I had no idea how to make my lemon grass "lightly bruised," let alone which parts were edible. Some quick Internet searching later, I was able to resume cooking. The soup took over three hours to make - the inital simmering takes two hours. I made a more Americanized version of the soup (sans coriander, fish sauce, and chilies) but the lemon grass still gave it a really rich texture. This was a really great tasting soup and I foresee making Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon Grass more in the future. I think I ended up with six generous servings - I love frozen leftovers!The last thing I cooked was Chicken with Mushrooms. When I was telling my mom about the dinner I was making, she responded 
with "But you don't eat mushrooms." I said that "I do now." Granted, I used probably a quarter of a cup of mushrooms with three chicken breasts... This was really easy to make - it was a simple stir fry with a sherry, soy sauce and sugar mixture with chicken broth (scooped directly out of the stock pot that was sitting inches away - you don't get much fresher than that!).
with "But you don't eat mushrooms." I said that "I do now." Granted, I used probably a quarter of a cup of mushrooms with three chicken breasts... This was really easy to make - it was a simple stir fry with a sherry, soy sauce and sugar mixture with chicken broth (scooped directly out of the stock pot that was sitting inches away - you don't get much fresher than that!).Overall, I had a great dinner with recipes that I can use again - probably on their own next time because I had a LOT of food leftover! (Not to mention the amount of dishes!)
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